Chapter 203: Mad Wolf

Lucian’s POV

"Calm down, Alphas," Selene said, looking at the both of us while Valerie gripped my arm and tried to steady me. We sat back down. This was why I loved carrying her everywhere with me.

"Don’t tell me to calm down, Selene." My voice came out hard. "You people aren’t cooperative. For all our sakes, tag us along. You were the ones who initiated all of this anyway."

"Okay, enough!" Selene’s voice echoed through the big chamber.

I stopped, mostly because I hadn’t expected it.

"First of all, it’s not Selene. It’s Luna Selene. Add that respect, please. Second, this is not the way to approach this matter. You’re being overly harsh, and it isn’t helping. We’re kings too, remember?"

"I’ve been an Alpha longer than any of you have been in power," I said, forcing the words through my teeth. "I know the enemy’s tactics. I know how they move. They’re going to strike lethally. If you’d let me in, we would’ve struck first and it would’ve been the end of Bernia. But no. So forgive me for trying to protect my own. It’s my duty."

"We understand you perfectly, Alpha Lucian," William said, "but we want to handle this first before involving everyone. After all, it’s our territory he came to."

I couldn’t tell whether he hadn’t heard a word I said or he was just that dumb. I was saying one thing and he was saying another, like two men shouting across a river.

"Huh. Alpha William, I believed we could be on the same page, but it appears we can’t. You can’t have it your way every time. This is all of Morvaine at stake. When you brought the initiative to give birth to pups, we adopted it. So not tagging us along isn’t ideal at all."

"President Jackson of Bernia said he’d make things right after we explained to him that his people were the first to attack us," Selene said. "We’re yet to hear anything from them."

"That’s because they won’t get back to you. They’ll only strike. The next time you hear from them, it’ll be a lethal strike, and the unexpected ones hit hardest. You won’t see them coming. If anything, you should fear their silence more than their action."

I was trying to make them understand what we were dealing with. The enemy could wait weeks, months, even years, just to dull their opponent and wear them out before striking. I’d watched it happen once. I remembered what silence cost us. Looking at the two of them, so sure, so comfortable, I felt a cold fear I’d never admit to.

"We understand your point, and we promise it’s not new to us," William said. "But we’re sticking to caution and care in these matters. One mistake could cost all of us."

Servants began bringing in food, finally, but I’d had enough of the nonsense. I slammed my hand on the table and shouted, "Are you dumb?"

I didn’t care about consequences anymore.

Guards flooded the room like soldier ants and closed in on where I stood.

"Alpha Lucian, you’ve lost it," Selene said. "What the hell is wrong with you? This is not how meetings are held."

"Shut up, Selene. You are and will always remain my bitch!" It burst out of me before I could stop it, ugly and raw, and the moment it left my mouth, I wanted to take it back. Pride wouldn’t let me.

"Guards!" William called, and they stepped closer.

"Don’t you fucking touch me," I told them.

"I see now what you came here to do," William said, his voice low. "To insult me and my wife, not to talk about territorial matters."

"Who do you both think you are? I left Selene for you, motherfucker. I was running this district for years before you brought your ugly ass onto the scene. Is that why you’re so proud? Because I left it for you?"

William smiled, and that was the worst part.

"Correction. I took her from you, prick. And let me ask, is this about me or about Selene? She’s mine now, and there’s nothing you can do about it." ⅇ

"Before she was yours, she was mine, and I fucked her as such." My voice was shaking, and I didn’t know if it was from rage. "Is there anything to enjoy in such a wide-ass pussy?"

For half a second, nobody moved. Then William leaped across the table and started punching me.

I rolled him over and punched him like a goddamn bag. The guards tore us apart. Over the chaos, I saw Valerie holding Selene back. What did Selene want to do? Beat me? Oh, fuck!

The guards pinned my arms. William lay on the floor, breathing hard. Selene shoved Valerie off her, a punch landing in the process. Leave me the fuck alone. I couldn’t free myself from the soldiers’ grip. Then Selene walked up to me and looked me dead in the eyes.

"I was never yours, Lucian," she said quietly. "I was only waiting for my true owner to arrive."

She slapped me hard across the face.

The sound cracked through the chamber. My cheek burned, but that wasn’t what hurt. What hurt was the way she said it, calm and certain, like I’d been nothing but a waiting room. I stared at her, and for one stupid second, I forgot how to breathe.

William stood up, and the guards let me go.

I straightened myself, rolling my shoulders back. Maybe this was what I’d come here for. I’d come to shake the place and break tables, and it felt a little relieving. I’d said my piece and thrown a few punches. Selene looked pained too, so, mission accomplished.

"Selene, your slap did nothing to me," I said, because I had to say something. Valerie was just getting up off the floor behind us. I knew she hadn’t wanted to fight her friend, not when Selene was the Luna now, but fuck it.

"You’ll always be mine, Selene," I said, forcing a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. "Just as everything belongs to me, the territories, every fucking thing. You’ll come back to me, and I’ll be waiting to have you in my arms again. I can’t wait to fuck you again."

"Get this mad wolf out of here, now!" William shouted.

I didn’t let them touch me. I was already leaving.

At the door, I turned back. "Hey, William. Don’t forget our deal, or we’ll have serious issues. Don’t do any fucking thing without letting me know."

He didn’t respond. Foolish wolf.

Valerie and I walked out backward, keeping our eyes on them.

"Fuck you all," I said. "You can never be the front liners. You don’t have what it takes."

I climbed into my car and left. The only reason they’d been able to ridicule me like that was that I hadn’t brought my own guards. I’d taken it like the champ that I was. Mine would be arriving soon, and I hoped they were ready.

But as the gates of Icefang shrank in the rearview mirror, my cheek still burning, there was one sentence I couldn’t shake. I was only waiting for my true owner to arrive.

I told myself I didn’t care. I told myself that all the way home.